Jack and the Giant
by sbarra
Summary: Whenever Elizabeth, or her students, need a hero...Jack is always there. (J/E)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Crown Media and Hallmark own "When Calls the Heart". It is the work of Janette Oke, Michael Landon Jnr, Brian Bird and the cast and crew involved. I am in no way seeking credit or profit for their efforts.

**Jack and the Giant**

**Chapter 1**

Elizabeth just knew that the cornbread was burnt. She had sat down to grade a paper or two, and before she knew it, she had over-cooked the loaf. The young teacher rushed over to the stove, almost burning her fingers in her haste to rescue what she could from the charred mess. Tossing the steaming pan aside, she lifted the lid on the pot.

"Why does this always seem to happen when I'm babysitting!" she exclaimed. "At least the stew will be somewhat edible," she mumbled, stirring the hearty winter vegetables.

"Alright, Mistatcher?" the little boy asked.

"I didn't realise you were awake, Ephraim!" Elizabeth exclaimed, tousling the small child's blonde hair as he clutched at her skirt.

"I hunn-ggry," he rubbed his belly.

Elizabeth settled her guest at the table when a sudden knock on the door startled her. Elizabeth wiped her hands on her apron and went to answer it.

"Jack!" she exclaimed. 

"Mountttieee!" Ephraim happily greeted him.

"I'm surprised to see you!" Elizabeth added.

"I hope it's not an unwelcome surprise," Jack clutched his hat nervously in his hands.

"It's always great to see you," Elizabeth replied, wishing that she could take back her mistrustful words before his mission to Lethbridge.

"I couldn't wait to see you," he said softly, pushing a curl back behind her ear. "I really didn't think of… well, anyone much else, the whole time I was there."

"That's very sweet," Elizabeth smiled, the warmth in her eyes reassuring him.

"Mounttttieee!" Ephraim repeated, banging his spoon on the table and, clearly, wanting his share of the constable's attention.

Laughing, Jack saluted him and pulled up a chair beside the small boy. Elizabeth wished that the smell of burnt bread did not permeate the whole room. She served up a bowl of the vegetable stew and handed it to him. Hesitantly, she polished a spoon on her apron before handing it to him. Trying not to make it obvious that she was wondering what Jack would think of her culinary skills, Elizabeth made herself busy tidying the hearth.

"Mama in Lefbrige," Ephraim was telling Jack. 

"Yes, I saw her there, buddy. She's well, but she is missing you," the constable replied.

Elizabeth was relieved to that Jack quite liked the soup. "Is there any news?"

He chose his words carefully so that the boy would not worry. "The Company doctor there has given Carla's family some good news about the derailment. Her brother, Charles Noonan, is on the mend."

"That's a relief," Elizabeth smiled. "It must be so hard to Carla with two suckling infants. Do you think Abigail will be home this week?"

Jack shrugged, "There are so many people affected by the… incident. You know what she's like. She travelled with Carla, but now she's found other people in need of a kind word or a shoulder to cry on."

"I wish there was something I could do," Elizabeth fretted.

"You're doing exactly what the Lord would have you do," he assured her. "Ephraim has lovely, warm food and… delightful company."

"A fine compliment," Elizabeth smiled.

"Why don't I do the dishes while you eat?" Jack offered.

"I won't look a gift horse in the mouth!" Elizabeth replied, moving some of her school supplies, so that she could sit opposite her young charge.

"Yummy, Mistacher," the little boy thanked her.

"Thank you, Ephraim," Elizabeth replied.

"Story?" he asked eagerly.

Elizabeth accepted the bowl of stew and spoon that Jack served her with a flourish. She giggled and thanked him.

"Yes, I will tell you a story," she told her youngest student. "First you need to read your letters. You need to show Constable Thornton how much you learned this week."

In between mouthfuls of stew, Elizabeth pointed at random letters on the blotting paper on the table. Jack clapped and smiled when Ephraim was able to give the correct answers. Jack took her empty bowl and washed it, and her spoon, along with the other dishes.

"Story?" Ephraim asked again. 

Elizabeth nodded and the small boy darted over to his makeshift bed in the far corner of the warm parlour. Elizabeth picked up Andrew Lang's 'The Red Fairy Book' and sat on the sofa next to Ephraim. He pulled his blankets over them both and snuggled up on her lap while she opened the book. He flicked through a few pages until he found a picture he liked and then pointed it out to the teacher.

"You want me to read 'Jack and the Beanstalk'?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, pleaassse Mistatcher," he jiggled up and down on her lap.

The constable chuckled from the kitchen doorway, "What a good name for a hero!"

Elizabeth smiled, "You can play that part if you want?"

Jack winked at her and sat beside them on the sofa. Ephraim tried to make the blankets fit over all three of them, but Jack held up a hand to stop him, letting him know that it was alright for him to sit a little bit apart.

"Once upon a time there was a poor widow who lived in a little cottage with her only son Jack. Jack was a giddy boy, but very kind-hearted."

The Mountie listened to Elizabeth's soft voice and breathed in her familiar, floral scent, relieved to feel so at peace with her after their argument earlier that week. He wished Rosemary had never come to Coal Valley. Even after she had left, there were still times when Elizabeth doubted the depth of Jack's love for her. To think that he would have looked twice at anyone else, just because he was in a bigger place, was ridiculous.

He glanced up when Elizabeth hissed his name. "It's your line," she said. Ephraim was looking up at him expectantly.

Jack leant over and read the dialogue that Elizabeth was pointing at.

"Mother, look how tall the beanstalk has grown! I told you that the beans that I sold the cow for were magic! I wonder where it ends. I think I will climb up and see."

Ephraim's eyes grew wide as he nuzzled under his teacher's chin and listened to her words. Jack found himself getting a little jealous of the small boy. He knew that he had to bide his time and build a strong foundation for the marriage he hoped to share with Elizabeth, but it was hard to be this close to her and, yet, so far!

Elizabeth adopted a deep, booming voice to play the Giant, making Ephraim squeal with delight:

"Fe, fa, fi-fo-fum,  
I smell the breath of an Englishman.  
Let him be alive or let him be dead,  
I'll grind his bones to make my bread."

"Teacher!" a gruffer voice suddenly bellowed and then the glass window beside them suddenly shattered; a large rock falling inches from Elizabeth's feet.

Ephraim began to cry, Elizabeth held him tight and Jack sprang into action.


	2. Chapter 2

Elizabeth paced back and forth in front of the locked door, trying to soothe Ephraim's frayed nerves and calm her own anxious heart. The little boy wailed in her ear as she held him close, his arms pinching at her slender neck as he held on, as if for dear life!

Who would have broken the window of Abigail's quarters above the Café? She had clearly heard a male voice bark 'Teacher!' just before the rock shattered the peaceful story time with Jack and Ephraim. Did somebody bear a grudge against her? Whoever could it be? Elizabeth heard Jack's familiar knocking pattern on the locked door. She quickly unlocked it; Ephraim wailing all the louder, until he realised that Mountie Jack was back.

"Whoever it was, was gone by the time I got down there," Jack told her over the boy's sobs. He placed the lantern on the table and then locked the door behind him. "The tracks were impossible to spot due to the storm we had earlier. Ned Yost and Tom Trevoy heard the glass break. They're going to keep an eye out on the street."

Elizabeth braved a smile, hoping to reassure him of her fortitude. Unfortunately, this only served to make Jack even more worried. Elizabeth seemed rather pale and care-worn, particularly in the dim light of the entrance.

"Do you want me to take him?" Jack asked.

Elizabeth was surprised. As kind as Jack was in speaking to her students, she couldn't remember him being especially affectionate with them. It would be good to be able to stretch her aching shoulders, however. She nodded mutely and smiled tensely as Jack approached her and bent down to make eye contact with the bawling boy.

"Ephraim," Jack whispered. "Ephraim," the constable reached out and wiped the tears from the stunned boy's cheek. "Come here."

Effortlessly, Jack picked up the boy. Ephraim was, at first, reluctant to relinquish his tight grip on Elizabeth's upper body, but he slowly loosened his fingers. Jack let the boy clamber up until his hands were tightly clutching the lapels on either side of his red serge uniform.

Elizabeth watched Jack rock slightly from one foot to another. The rhythm and murmured reassurances that "Jack defeated the Giant" definitely helped to calm the small boy: his wails became sobs and his whimpers became hiccups.

"You're a natural," Elizabeth murmured appreciatively rubbing her sore neck.

"I learned from the best," Jack replied, and then quickly clarified, lest she think he meant some other lady. "You. Well, and my mother. She's a great teacher, too."

A faint blush brought some warmth back to Elizabeth's cheeks. She motioned to the makeshift bed near the sofa and Jack gently lowered the small boy to the ground and then tucked the covers in around him.

"Fe, fa, fi-fo-fum… Giant smelt breff Englishman…" Ephraim told them, his eyes still wide with fear.

Elizabeth sat on the sofa and leant down to stroke his matted hair from his forehead. "Jack defeats the giant. He always beats the bad guy," she whispered. "Besides there is no giant in Coal Valley, it's just a story, Ephraim. You go to sleep, I shall stay right here."

Jack, meanwhile, busied himself tidying up the broken glass, being careful to put the rock to one side. Elizabeth guessed that he would use this 'clue' to try to figure out who had broken the window. She saw him put something in his pocket and then, the next time she looked, he was taping brown paper over the broken windowpane. Ephraim's eyes slowly began to grow heavier.

The boy mumbled to himself as she hummed and squeezed his hand. Eventually he yawned and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep. Jack couldn't help wishing that the last thing he felt before he fell asleep each night was Elizabeth's soft hand in his. Breathing in her floral scent and seeing her pretty smile would make sleep come much easier than his evenings with only Rip to talk to!

Elizabeth glanced up at Jack and they both breathed a sigh of relief that Ephraim was now sleeping peacefully. She motioned to the kitchen table and they both tiptoed towards it. They then had a whispered conversation, worrying about waking Ephraim up.

"You don't think it could have been one of your students playing a prank or showing their frustration over getting a bad grade do you?" Jack asked.

"No," Elizabeth replied, shaking her head. She knew that he did not think it very likely either. "Even when James or one of the bigger, moodier boys, doesn't agree with my decision, they still accept that I am the teacher and know best."

"Perhaps one of the new miners got a bit worse for drink then. Some of them think it's a lark to scare ladies," Jack said. "Let's talk about something else."

"What did the note say?" Elizabeth asked.

"Note?" Jack gulped and glanced away.

Elizabeth was now sure that it was a note that he had quickly placed in his pocket when he had put the rock to one side earlier. She raised her eyebrows and he reluctantly handed her the crumpled piece of paper.

"I will get you back, Teacher" was written in large, messy letters. 

Elizabeth rubbed her temple and glanced up at Jack. "Why would someone want to get revenge on me? Whatever have I done?"

"Like I said," Jack reached over and placed his large hands over her small, trembling ones, "it might have just been a prank. Maybe you spurned the advances of one of the new miners. Listen, I'll sleep out in the Café. Nobody will be able to get up here to hurt you or Ephraim."

"I don't know what I'd do without you," Elizabeth replied, smiling affectionately.

"I'm just doing my job, Ma'am," Jack smirked and saluted her.

Elizabeth graced him with a warm smile, "You deserve a medal!"

Sudden knocking, echoing up from the door downstairs, destroyed the moment. Jack told her to lock the door behind him and he would go to see whom it was. She knew, at once, that he was more worried about the incident than he was letting on. Elizabeth found herself once more pacing back and forth. When she heard Mr Yost's voice downstairs, however, she assumed that all was safe. He must have just come to tell Jack that all was quiet in the street outside. Elizabeth unlocked the door and rushed downstairs. Jack's harsh reprimand slowed her steps. Mr Yost's eyes were wide with panic and Jack was holding a telegram.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked anxiously. "What's the news?"

"The Tolliver Gang has escaped," he told her, worry etched on his handsome face.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack's protective instincts and years of training meant that he quickly took charge of the situation. Before Elizabeth barely had a chance to farewell Ephraim. The small, sleepy boy was bundled up against the cold breeze and carried out to Mr Yost's cart. Elizabeth wrapped her shawl more tightly around herself as she watched Jack giving the shopkeeper further instructions.

"Where is Ned taking him?" she asked numbly when Jack returned and locked the door once more behind him.

"Florence Blakely's," Jack replied. "I told him not to mention the threat to you. We don't want any gossip."

"She still thinks I'm somewhat of a princess," Elizabeth told him. "She will think I'm shirking my responsibilities."

"He will make an excuse about you being unwell," Jack replied, his voice steady. "It doesn't matter what Florence thinks of you. God knows your heart." He motioned to the steps and then followed her up to Abigail's apartment once more.

"Shouldn't we raise an alarm?" Elizabeth asked, watching him lock the door while she placed the lantern back on the low table.

Jack wrapped her in his strong arms and held Elizabeth close. "If Nate Tolliver is foolish enough to come back to Coal Valley to seek his revenge, then we are the targets. Besides we need the element of surprise. If Dottie Ramsay makes loud speeches in the street, then the Tolliver's will know that we are on to them. They wouldn't have expected the prison guard to telegraph me so quickly. I sent very specific instructions to the Prison because I need to keep you safe."

"You mean you thought that they would break out," Elizabeth asked worriedly.

He felt how tense his body was becoming once more and tightened his embrace, trying to reassure her. "It's part of my training to anticipate different eventualities. I even briefed the driver when we escorted them there. Nate and the others weren't going to take to imprisonment well."

"I don't know what I'd do without you," Elizabeth sighed, her hands moving in slow circles on his firm back; her ear close to his heart.

Jack stepped awkwardly out of the embrace and paced over to the sofa, running his hand through his hair. Elizabeth hoped she hadn't offended him; perhaps she had overstepped some rule of propriety and it had made him uncomfortable. He apologised as soon as he saw her wrinkled forehead and the anxiety in her pretty eyes. Jack patted the sofa beside him and Elizabeth quickly closed the distance between them.

"I am sorry," he mumbled. "I just feel like you would not be a target to these thugs if Julie had not told them that you were the 'Mountie's woman'" he explained.

"My sister got me messed up with this when she harboured Nate Tolliver," Elizabeth reassured him. "You have done everything you can to protect me and the people of this province, Jack."

He gazed into her eyes and drew strength from her faith in him. Jack slowly nodded; a hundred thoughts racing around in his mind. "Well, we have to work out our plan. You may not like what I have in mind."

"Why?" Elizabeth asked.

"We need to leave Coal Valley; have a big Farewell; put up a sign…" he told her. "We need to draw whoever threw that rock away from the town before anyone gets hurt."

"I don't want to leave the children!" Elizabeth defiantly exclaimed, turning to face him.

"It will only be until I can trap Nate, or Joe, whoever it is that's threatening your safety," he replied.

"I… I will go along with it… on one condition…" Elizabeth eventually replied. "No word of this threat must reach my parents. They would insist that I leave the North-West for ever!"

Jack reluctantly agreed to her condition. Part of him wondered if it wouldn't just be better for her to go back to Toronto. As much as he wanted her by his side, he would rather that she was safe in the big city, than in danger.

Jack retrieved a notebook from his pocket and began making plans. Elizabeth fell asleep with her head leaning on his shoulder, listening to the pencil scratching on the paper, and breathing in his familiar, masculine scent.


	4. Chapter 4

The Sherrington Stagecoach rocked back and forth on the dry, bumpy road. If she had not been so anxious, this might have lulled Elizabeth to sleep. She had so much nervous energy that she felt as taut as a violin string! It had been horrible having to lie to all of the school children. She had tried to make it clear that she would be back and that 'a personal matter' called her back to Toronto only temporarily, but the littler ones had cried so mournfully that she wasn't sure that they understood.

Jack had unfurled the 'Farewell Teacher' banner and arranged for some of the mothers to bring refreshments. He had wanted to make her leave-taking a very public affair. Elizabeth saw the wisdom in making it clear to whoever was targeting her that she really was leaving. After all, it would keep the townsfolk safe because she, as the bait, would lure the predator away from the other women and from all her dear children.

Jack sat beside her now, his fingers absentmindedly tapping the brim of his hat, which he had placed in his lap. Elizabeth glanced at his strong profile and admired how they could, at last, sit in companionable silence. He was a tower of strength in times of crisis, but she didn't feel the need to tell him so. Jack seemed to understand without words how much she appreciated him. Elizabeth wondered if there would be any more passengers up ahead on the trip towards Calgary. She thought about Abigail and Carla and hoped that they would not panic when they received her hastily written note about her need to quickly leave town for a short time.

Elizabeth thought about Little Ephraim, who had tried to struggle out of Florence's arms when they had boarded the stagecoach. For the hundredth time, she reminded herself that she was doing this to keep others safe. Nate or Joe, or whoever had smashed that window would surely leave the humble people of Coal Valley alone now. She glanced out into the pitch-black expanse on either side of their coach. Perhaps, they were being followed at this very moment. Elizabeth almost jumped when she felt Jack's hand on her shoulder. She glanced at him and he smiled reassuringly.

"Try to get some sleep," he said softly. "Do you want me to stretch out on the other bench?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "If it's not too much trouble… I… I would like you as close to me as possible."

Jack's brief, yet brilliant smile eased some of the tension in her stiff shoulders. He tapped his knees and she slowly stretched out on the bench they were sitting on and rested her head on his knees. Elizabeth worried about her chin looking odd to him from that angle and moved her neck, hoping that she did not look too ghastly in the dim glow from the lantern. Jack, however, was admiring her fine complexion and features.

"May I?" he asked, his voice strangely hoarse as he touched her hair.

Elizabeth nodded, blushed and then tilted her neck so that he could loosen her hairpins. His long fingers stroked through her auburn tresses, delighting in how they caught the light and how soft they were. She glanced up at him when he cleared his throat.

"I'm so pleased to be courting you," he told her, the rhythm of his slow caresses not abating, but staying constant.

She almost said something self-deprecating, but there was something solemn about his gratitude, so she merely thanked him quietly. Elizabeth silently prayed that they would safely reach their destination.

"You can sleep, my love," he whispered.

She revelled in the feel of his warm fingers on her neck and hair. She smiled at the thought of being his 'love'.

"What about you?" Elizabeth asked sleepily, her slender form twisting towards him slightly as the carriage passed over a larger bump. "You should sleep, too."

"I won't sleep until we reach Calgary and there are other law men around. The driver will let me know straight away if he sees anything out of the ordinary before then. Besides," he smiled fondly at her. "It's much nicer being here with you than being stuck in the jailhouse with Flip. I could look at you for hours."

She pouted in mock-petulance and they both relaxed, accepting that this was a journey that the Lord had sent them on together.

Elizabeth was not sure how long she had been asleep. Jack was stroking her cheek and whispering her name. She hoped that she had not been snoring! It would be mortifying to think that she had drooled on his uniform!

"Don't be alarmed, but I need you to hide under the other bench seat," Jack told her, pronouncing each word slowly and calmly.

Elizabeth's heart began to pound with fear. "Is there someone out there?" she asked, trying to look out into the early morning light.

"Someone has clearly ridden ahead and felled a tree, blocking the road that will take us East," he told her hurriedly.

Elizabeth groggily stood up and tried to hide in the other seat's compartment, but she was not quick enough.

A tall figure cloaked in black stood at the carriage's door, a pistol held out and aimed right at her. She knew who it was in an instant and it wasn't one of the Tolliver gang. He might have been locked up in the same Prison though. It was Charles Spurlock: the man who had attempted to shoot her when she had exposed his lies about Cat Montgomery and the church fire.

"Get out!" he growled, his eyes barely leaving Elizabeth as he motioned for Jack to obey him. "I've already taken the Ross rifle off of the driver, constable. Get out, now!" he barked.

Elizabeth reluctantly followed Jack out of the safety of the warm carriage. He gripped her hand long after he had helped her down and they faced their common foe together. Spurlock, a giant of a man, towered menacingly over Elizabeth, but she did not give him the satisfaction of even seeing her flinch. She was a Thatcher and she was a Mountie's woman. She was a child of the Lord; she could cope with this because God was her joy and her strength!


	5. Chapter 5

"I've often thought about you," Spurlock told Elizabeth, keeping the gun trained on her, but stepping forward to feast his eyes on her pretty features.

Jack squeezed Elizabeth's hand and pulled her slightly towards him, but tried not to react. He needed to stall Spurlock for as long as possible. She glanced up and saw him scanning the horizon. Realising that he was hoping help was on its way, she looked back to the tall man menacing her.

"You thought about me?" Elizabeth asked, trying to make her voice sound curious.

"Mhmmm," he gave a low whistle, "on those long, lonely nights, I thought about how I should have just flung you on a horse and taken you for a ride!"

"Jack would have still stopped you," Elizabeth said defiantly. "How… how did you escape?"

"Oh, that was mostly down to Joe Tolliver," Spurlock shrugged and scratched his stubbled jaw. "He ain't one for tight spaces for too long. I told him that once I had you, I'd deliver the Mountie to him."

Elizabeth could see a muscle tightening in Jack's jaw. She was amazed that he could still speak. He looked absolutely furious.

Jack swallowed several vicious words and instead, tried to keep the conversation rolling, "Where are the Tollivers?" he asked.

"Not too far from here," Spurlock replied. "They wouldn't be foolish enough to go back to Coal Valley, why that's what the Law would expect them to do! Go to the scene of the crime."

"They're smarter than you then," Jack retorted.

Spurlock barely moved, but somehow managed to pack as much force into the punch as possible. Jack swayed on his feet for a second and then fell. Elizabeth refused to let go of him, even with Spurlock breathing threats down her neck. She crouched beside Jack, holding her handkerchief to his bleeding nose and trying to whisper reassuring words over the din of Spurlock's wrath.

Elizabeth cast around for some way to break the tension. She prayed for wisdom and then it came to her. "I know why you went back, Charles." She repeated it, trying to keep her voice calm and steady. "It was love that brought you back."

"What are you talking about, Teacher?" he scoffed, pointing the gun away from Jack and straightening up to stare at her.

"That's the kind of person you truly are," she lied. "You really care for Catherine and the children. Even though she didn't appreciate your gifts and your offers of… friendship… you still wanted to go back and make sure that the Montgomery's were alright."

Spurlock squared his shoulders and muttered, "That Cat played me. She purred like the one that got the cream one minute and hissed at me the next."

"Women should really think twice before they let men get the wrong idea," Elizabeth replied, seemingly agreeing with him. "And you… you would have been a good catch."

"You really think so?" he asked sceptically.

"Well, women love a man in uniform," Elizabeth replied, "and you always had such shiny buttons and your Pinkerton badge."

Jack rolled his eyes and slowly sat up. He felt like vomiting and not because he'd been struck so hard. He could not believe that Elizabeth's attempts to distract Spurlock by stroking his ego were working. The man knew little about the female of the species!

"Personally I admire the Mounties because of their code of honour, but women mustn't forget that the Pinkerton Code is also admirable."

Spurlock nodded, agreeing with what he wanted to hear. She rattled off all that she could remember from the plaque that one of her father's guards had above his desk: 'Accept no bribes'; 'Refuse divorce cases or cases that initiate scandals'; 'Never raise fees without the client's pre-knowledge' and 'Keep clients apprised on an on-going basis'.

Jack noticed that Elizabeth didn't mention the one about not compromising with criminals. Spurlock had clearly done that when he worked with Gowen, and also when he helped the Tolliver's to escape from prison!

"Where's our driver?" Elizabeth asked, glancing around beyond the stagecoach.

"He's just fine," Spurlock replied, pointing to a tree, but being careful to keep his gun trained on her.

Elizabeth looked at the bound and gagged stagecoach operator with sympathy. "It would be kind of you to let him go, Charles," she told him.

"I ain't going to let him raise the alarm!" Spurlock replied. "You're very quiet," he turned to Jack. "You don't want another right hook, huh?"

Jack whispered quietly, but neither of them could hear his retort.

"You don't want the teacher to hear your cussing, huh?" Spurlock teased him.

Jack so responded quietly that Spurlock bent right forward. Surprisingly, it worked. Jack kicked out, tripping the large man and then dived on his back, pulling the gun out of Spurlock's grasp as they tumbled in the dirt. Elizabeth screamed her beau's name and then, on the horizon, saw what Jack must have been able to see from his vantage point on the ground. Three Mounties, their red serge jackets like blazing beacons of hope, were riding towards them from Calgary.

"Stay down!" Jack yelled at his prisoner. "Elizabeth, please just stand back," he added, when his prospective bride tried to hug him.

As soon as the Mounties arrived, they took over. One freed their poor driver. The other two came and arrested Charles Spurlock, handcuffing him and hauling the escapee to his feet.

"Well done, Constable Thornton!" the senior officer exclaimed. "We caught the Tolliver's last night at a bar in Lethbridge. They were boasting about how Spurlock had already headed to Coal Valley. As soon as I saw your telegram, we set off to help."

Elizabeth almost burst with pride about how smart and brave Jack was. At last, she got to embrace him, his hands tangling in her hair as he hugged her close. For good measure, she placed a tender kiss on his poor nose. Whenever they told the story to their children, he always complained that she had kissed his nose before he could kiss her lips!

**The End.**


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